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I moved slowly along the edge, partly because we were trying to be quiet, but mostly because I was in agonizing pain.

Rebekah and I had been travelling for two days before we reached the edge of the woods, the edge that met my village. Last night we had decided that my story would seem more plausible if I had a few injuries to show for it.

So now I hunched over Spade's back, Rebekah following next to me so that I wouldn't injure myself anymore if I were to fall.

The blood had dried up for the most part, but you could still notice the gashes that ran up and down my arms and over my torso.

"I think this is good enough" I said as I picked the spot from where I would immerge into the village. It wasn't the area with the most traffic, but people were bound to see me soon. "You should get going" I said, turning to her with a tight lipped smile.

"I'm sorry that this was the only way" She said, looking at my now blood-soaked dress.

"It's alright. I have to make it believable" I said, ignoring the small pangs that hit every now and then.

"I'll be on my way now," She said as she backed away "Good luck" She called out over her shoulder, and then she was gone.

I stayed there for a couple of minutes, going over the plan in my head. Of course I didn't need to, I was the one who came up with it and all. But going over the little details helped calm my nerves.

I took a deep breath, hunching over a bit more and schooling my features into one of pain.

I kicked Spade's side, easing him into a slow trot and passed the edge of the woods. I kept my head down but kept moving forward.

I was coming in through the side of the village, straight into the center square.

I saw a little girl passing by. She glanced at me then ran toward her mother, yanking at her dress and pointing at me. Soon more people were getting closer, murmuring and whispering, calling for help.

"Caroline?" I heard a familiar voice- Tyler's voice. He broke through the crowd, coming up to stand next to me.

"Tyler?" I managed to say weakly, feeling guilty for having to lie to him. I let my body fall limp and off the horse, right into Tyler's arms. I was shocked at how strong he had gotten. Or had he always been this strong? He had been training with the Council after all.

"Caroline? Are you okay? Wake up" He shook me to try and wake me, but I kept my eyes shut. I felt him adjust me in his arms and then began to walk, shouting orders at some men to put Spade in a stable. "Don't worry, I'll take you to Bonnie" He said soothingly.

Internally, I was excited to get to see Bonnie again, but I stayed still, playing the part.

I swayed back and forth as he walked, soon hearing the sound of a door opening and then I was placed on a hard surface.

"Bonnie!" Tyler's yelled. I heard his footsteps go into the back only to return, accompanied by another set of footsteps.

"Oh my-" I heard Bonnie's voice. She gasped and I felt her come closer. I let my eyes flutter open a bit, then I peeked up at her.

"Bonnie?" I croaked. She had her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Care-" She said, but couldn't continue. She turned to Tyler and rattled off some instructions. I let my eyes close and let the events unfold.

Rebekah had informed me that Bonnie had been becoming more powerful everyday, and would most likely know a healing spell.

I heard the front door open and closed and I assumed that it could only have been Tyler. I heard Bonnie going around the room, surely picking out things from the shelves. I let my body relax and let my mind wander.

I internally congratulated myself for my exceptional acting skills, glad that I had been able to convince everyone that I was injured. I did feel guilty, though. These were my best friends. I had known Bonnie and Tyler since I was a little girl, and I had never lied to them.

Now I was lying to them to protect a man I had hardly known for two months.

I was insane.

I thought about Klaus back in the woods. I had tried not to think of him as best as I possibly could because I didn't want to lose focus. That task proved harder than I thought it would because he was almost all I could think about.

His touch, his smile, his smirk. The way his sandy curls felt between my fingers...

The last time we had been together I had seen the hopelessness in his eyes, like as if he thought he could lose me at any moment.

Bonnie's grandmother had told us about how werewolves mate for life. After they mark their lover, it's a bond that lasts forever.

I saw Klaus's need to make me his and for some reason I wanted to be his.

I felt Bonnie's fingers gently push up the sleeves of my dress so that she could get better access to my arms. Next, a slimy substance was being slathered onto the cuts.

I fought to stay calm and play the part of someone who was unconscious, but it started getting harder as more of the slimy substance came into contact with the cuts, and they started to itch.

She slowly tore at the dress around my torso so that she could get better access to the large cut that ran across my stomach.

More of the slimy substance.

I breathed, trying my best not to clench my fists but it was getting hard.

I distracted myself, going over the plan in my head a dozen times, thinking about the woods, Klaus, Rebekah, my father.

I heard Bonnie begin to talk, but in a different language. She seemed to be chanting, her voice picking up in intensity as the words flew out of her mouth. When she stopped, the itching stopped.

I stayed still, not sure if it was okay to "wake up".

Everything was eerily quiet, and I waited a few minutes before slowly opening my eyes.

"Care," Bonnie breathed out a sigh of relief. She was standing next to me with a large book open in her hands. She closed it and set it on a nearby table, moving back to look at my cuts.

"What happened?" I said, looking down at my completely healed injuries. I moved my hand and touch the skin of my arm and stomach- it was like as if nothing had happened. "What... I-I don't understand?" I said, sitting up.

"A few things happened while you were gone" Bonnie said with a small smile. I pulled her into a hug, glad to have my friend with me again.

"I missed you, Bon" I said, he was stiff at first, trying to make sure I was alright, I guessed. She finally returned the hug, laughing a little.

"I missed you too, Care" Being away from the village had made me feel homesick. I tried not to think about it while I was in the woods, but now being back and seeing Tyler and Bonnie felt great.

We pulled away and I got a good look at Bonnie. She looked...older.

There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair and clothes were a mess.

"Geez, Bonnie! You look terrible"

"Thanks, Caroline. You look great, too" She replied sarcastically and began picking up veils and jars, putting them on shelves and arranging books.

The door opened just as I was about to throw back a witty remark, and Tyler came bursting in.

"Caroline!" He said, caught off guard with the fact that I was sitting up straight and completely healed. He deposited whatever he had in his hands on a table and rushed over to gather me into a bear hug.

"It's nice to see you too, Ty" I said as best as I could, but he was squeezing the air out of my lungs.

"Oh, I'm sorry" He said pulling back but keeping his hands on my shoulders. "Are you alright?" He asked, holding me at arms length and looking over me.

"Yes, I'm fine" I reassured him. Tyler was still my best friend, but after Rebekah mentioned that he was in love with me, I didn't want to give him the wrong idea. "What's that?" I asked, nodding toward the pale he had dropped on the table.

"Food and clothes for you" He said, going over to grab it.

"Good, I'm starving" Lie. Rebekah and I had eaten a few hours before and I wouldn't be hungry for another while. But I was playing the role of a girl who had gone missing for almost two months and came back in tatters- not being hungry would blow my cover.

I went into the back to change into the dress that Tyler had brought me. It was one of mine so I guessed he had went to my cabin to get it.

When I went back out I did my best to inhale the food he had brought me, not bothering to be ladylike.

"When was the last time you had a decent meal?" Bonnie said with a laugh. She and Tyler sat watching me, so I ducked my head and tried not to look them in the eyes.

"A while" Lie. Again. I felt the mood shift instantly. It had been light before- we had been joking around and enjoying our little reunion. Now both their faces got serious.

"Caroline, there's somewhere we need to take you"

"To the Council? I know" I said, stuffing more bread into my mouth as their mouths hung open.

"H-How do you know about the Council?" Tyler was the one who asked while Bonnie tried to recover.

"A few things happened while I was gone" I said, echoing Bonnie's words. I looked at them both seriously.

This was what was meant to happen, Rebekah had told me.

The Council would want to see me because of my father, and because of the fact that they might want to use me against whatever they thought was in the woods.

So after I finished eating, Bonnie and Tyler both lead me toward the outskirts of the village. We started about a two mile walk through the meadow and into a more foliated area. The trees weren't exactly like those of the woods- they had smaller trunks and were paler. There was no grass on the ground- just dead leaves and dirt along with some rocks.

Tyler, who had been walking in front of both me and Bonnie, stopped. He looked around and then glanced at me. He bent down and moved aside some leaves. He pulled something off his wrist- a band, just like my father's.

I looked down at the band around my wrist, identical to his. He pressed the metal seal into the ground. The soft click of what sounded like a lock echoed in my ear and he pulled at something- a door.

The door came up from the ground, revealing the flight of stairs that went deeper into the earth. The steps were made of stone as was as the walls, and torches lit the way. It reminded me of the entrance to Klaus's dungeon.

I shook away the thought and followed Tyler who had stepped in, grabbing a torch off the wall.

There were only a few steps, but the winding path felt like it went on forever and it got colder the deeper we went in.

We reached the end of the tunnel and I was faced with a large room. The whole room was filled with people- well, they seemed to be grouped into pairs and they were a good distance apart, but there were a lot of people.

They were all fighting, each on with their respective partners.

I watched as one man lunged for his partner, managing to knock him of his feet, but he soon recovered and resumed his defensive stance.

There men as well as women. Some were as young as me and others were as old as my dad.

"Come on" Tyler side, taking a left and walking along the wall. I followed behind him, watching all the partners fight, one of them catching my eye.

"Is that Elena?" I stopped and watched as the brunette dodged a punch and dropped to the ground to kick her opponent's feet from under them. Her opponent, a man much larger and older than her, got up quickly and stepped back, holding his hands out in front of him to block a kick.

"Yes," Bonnie said, giving me a gentle push so that I would keep walking. I kept looking at Elena, watching as she danced around her opponent and landed punches and kicks.

"In here" Tyler's voice snapped me out of my train of thought. I looked at him and he gestured toward an open door, signalling for me to walk in.

I went ahead of them, walking into the dark room.

Again, the only thing lighting the room were the torches on the walls, and a fire pit in the center of the room.

I could see a group of people standing around the fire in a semi-circle. Some wore red cloaks, others didn't.

I gulped, becoming highly aware of the band around my wrist and the cloak on my shoulders.

"Step forward, Caroline Forbes" One of the figures said. They weren't close enough to the fire for me to see their faces, but the voice sounded familiar. I stepped closer to the fire pit so that I was facing them.

They did the same, and their features became evident.

"This is impossible" I gasped, my hand flying over my mouth, my eyes about to pop out of their sockets.

John Gilbert, Richard Lockwood, Logan Fell- all of them were there. And they were all supposed to be dead.

"You-You all died! You're supposed to be dead!" I said, getting a better look at their faces. They looked exactly the same as when I had seen them.

"Not exactly" A female voice echoed through the room and I had to blink to make sure it was real.

"Mom?" I asked, my voice breaking. One of the woman in the red cloaks removed her cap. I recognized the blonde hair and bright eyes.

"Hello, honey" She said with a smile, her eyes crinkling as she smiled. She was older. I took a few heavy breaths and tried to calm down, composing myself. This had not been expected.

"What is the meaning of this?" I asked, looking at all the faces in the room. The women took their cloak caps off and I recognized Jenna Sommers and Pearl amongst the group. All of them were ghosts.

"We are the Council" Richard Lockwood said, his voice booming off the walls.

"You're all supposed to be dead" I reiterated, a bit more calm now. As much as I wanted to look at my mother, I couldn't. She would see right through me.

"Yes, we feign our deaths so that our enemies will not know who we are, and who our loved ones are" Pearl chimed in.

"Enemies?"

"Yes, enemies. We hunt supernatural creatures and make sure they do not disrupt human life" Logan said.

"We maintain the balance" John Gilbert spoke up.

"Many years ago, we waged a battle with a dangerous werewolf pack that had been growing in the woods. We thought we had been able to extinguish them, but..." Jenna started.

"But a couple of weeks ago your father came stumbling out of the woods with a two week gap in his memory. We are afraid there are still supernatural creatures lurking in the woods, and they are a threat to this village" Richard Lockwood finished.

"So, there are a few details we'd like to to clear up" Pearl said. I signed and looked at all of them. I knew them all from when I was younger, and I had mourned for their deaths.

John Gilbert had committed suicide.

Richard Lockwood had disappeared into the woods.

Logan Fell had died in a fire.

Jenna Sommers died in labor.

Pearl had drowned.

My mother had disappeared.

Suddenly, I didn't feel so guilty about lying to them anymore.

"I am aware of the Council, and your soldiers, and that I am some sort of super soldier. I know about the werewolf pack you attacked and about you keeping the balance between the supernatural and humans" I paused and watched their stoic faced, continuing with the speech I had practiced over and over in my head.

"When I went to look for my father, after he disappeared into the woods, I found him. He was under the control of a vampire. The vampire let him go, in exchange for me. I was in his dungeon for weeks before I ever saw him again, and I was able to gain his trust"

"There's a vampire in the woods?" Lockwood asked.

"Yes, let me explain" I said, "He told me that he found the werewolf pack, destroyed and dying. He said that he had been watching them for some time and took his opportunity once they had been attacked. He approached them, healed them with his blood and offered to lead them and to help them become powerful once again" I took a breath before continuing, looking at their interested expressions.

"They accepted his guidance, and he said they had been doing well for some time, but that recently the werewolves had started rebelling, and that he had to kill some of them to make an example out of them, so that no one else would rebel"

"He trusted you so much as to tell you all of this?" Pearl asked.

"I don't know. I think he was going to kill me in the end, so whatever he told me wouldn't matter" They all nodded, accepting my explanation.

"Continue" Jenna prompted.

"During one of his visits, I managed to get him to tell me about who attacked him. That's when he told me all about the Council and how the children of council soldiers were stronger and better prepared than other"

"Yes, we believe that is true" Fell nodded.

"So, when I was alone, I began to train myself, trying to reach my true potential. My father had already taught me a few combat moves so I tried to get stronger and quicker" I said, then looked down at the ground.

"I was able to make a stake out of an upturned root in my cell. When I felt ready, I waited for him to return. He got close to me while he was talking and I..." I trailed off, feeding into my role as well as not being able to continue. The thought of hurting close made me sick.

"I killed him" I spat out "When I went out to the camp where the pack was, there were no more that 20 there, and I was able to kill them all as well" I said as cold as I could, remembering Marcel and his group of traitors- how he had hurt Klaus. How they had hurt me.

"You took out a pack of werewolves and I vampire, by yourself?" Gilbert asked skeptically and I nodded, remaining serious. Some of the Council memeber began to whisper to each other and I caught a few words like "much stronger" and "useful". I almost sneered.

"You returned unscathed?" Lockwood asked and I shook my head.

"I was in pretty bad shape. I got on my horse and rode for ten days until I reached the woods. Bonnie patched me up a little while ago" They all nodded.

"Well, it seems we have a hero in our midst" Fell said, smiling slightly. I smiled back, and everyone clapped softly. I still hadn't looked at my mother, thank goodness she had not asked anything.

"Why don't you get some rest, you must be tired after such a long journey" Pearl said, sounding like a doting mother.

"Yes, you should rest. We need you in top shape so that you could start training soon" Lockwood said.

"Training? For what?" I said, acting innocently confused. On the inside, I was going insane.

"Well, just because the woods is clear doesn't mean there aren't anymore supernatural creatures out there. I heard there was a band of vampires to the north, we need all the help we can get" Lockwood replied and I nodded thoughtfully. At least they wouldn't be going into the woods.

"I'll walk you out" Mother finally spoke, coming closer and putting an arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the room. I wrapped my arm around her waist, glad she was safe and alive.

"I missed you mom" I said.

"I've missed you too, honey. You've grown into quite the woman" She smiled proudly. We talked a bit more until we reached the tunnel entrance.

"I cannot go any further" She said, and I turned to her, unshed tears behind my eyes.

"Will I see you again?" I asked hopefully.

"I'll be here to watch you train" She said, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind my ear. I smiled and nodded, giving her a quick hug before turning to leave.

"Oh and Caroline" She called and I turned back to her. She pulled her cap over her head again before continuing "Get some rest, sweetie" She said with a smile before disappearing.

I met Tyler and Bonnie outside and noticed that the Sun was already setting. We walked back to the village while they caught me up on everything I missed and I told them what had "happened" in the woods.

We reached my cabin and Tyler walked me up the steps.

"I'm so glad you're okay" He said, pulling me into another hug. I returned it and smiled.

"Me, too" He pulled away but kept his arms around me, our faces a few inches apart. Red flags went up everywhere as I tried to push away, but he didn't notice. He kept getting closer.

"So, see you tomorrow" I blurted out quickly and slipped out of his grasp, getting in the house and shutting the door.

I went straight to bed and flopped down on my mattress, thinking about Klaus until I fell asleep.

I felt the hard ground underneath me as I sat up, opening my eyes and stretching my sore back.

As I did, I heard the sound of a heavy metal door creaking open, and then Bonnie came into view.

"Bonnie?" I asked, still groggy from sleep. She lay on the ground, trying to sit up. The door slammed shut.

I looked around and noticed the stone walls and metal doors.

This wasn't my room.

Bonnie sat up against the wall and huffed, pulling her messy hair away from her face and dusting herself off.

"What are we doing here, what happened?" I asked, trying to get up, but my legs were like goo.

"Don't try, you dosed you with one of my potions while you were sleeping. It'll wear off in a while" She said.

"They?"

"The Council" She clarified.

"Why would they drug me?" I asked, honestly confused.

"Because they know you lied" She said bitterly, and I tried to remain composed.

"I didn't lie" I said seriously, furrowing my brow.

"Oh, cut the crap Caroline" She said, but she didn't sound angry. She sounded tired.

"Why are you in here?" I asked.

"Because I lied, too" She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked and she sighed.

"I was given the task of returning your father's memory and getting that information to the Council. I was able to do that weeks ago, but I didn't say anything"

"Why?"

"Because he asked me not to" She said, looking at me now.

"Why would he do that?"

"He said that it was because that monster was keeping you safe" She said and I clenched my jaw. She sighed again "The Council got to him yesterday and forced him to confess. So once the truth was out, they knew you had lied. They know about the hybrid and the large werewolf pack that's out there- still alive" She shook her head "And they'll know where he is because they'll force your father to show them"

"What?" I practically yelled, not bothering to hide my inner turmoil anymore. They were going to find Klaus, and I was stuck here.

I tried to control my thoughts, breathing deeply. The room started to get hot and stuffy but I knew it was just me.

Then the door flew open, and I swear I had never been so happy to see Rebekah in my life.

Behind her, along the dungeon corridor, there were bodies on the floor. Guards she had taken out, not doubt.

"Caroline, we have to go" She came in and helped me up. I tried to walk and did so slowly.

"The Council-" I started.

"I know. They're on their way to get Nik as we speak. We need to go" She said urgently, turning to leave.

"Wait, Bonnie" I said, going to Bonnie and helping her up. We made our way out of the dungeon.

I looked around where we exited- it was the back of the blacksmith's workshop.

We were under the village.

There was a dungeon under the village.

I shook the thought out of my mind as we reached Bonnie's shop. I was able to walk normally now so I moved around the shop, grabbing my belonging that I had left there the day before.

"Let's go" Rebekah said, exiting the shop.

"One second" I said, and found Bonnie in the back, drinking some tea.

"Why are you doing this, Care?" She asked over her cup.

"Because I love him" I said without hesitating, which took her back a little.

"Be careful" She said.

"I will" I nodded and pulled her in for a hug "But I need to ask you for a favor"

Sorry for the lack of Klaus in this update, but he'll be back soon :)

That whole council-being-composed-of-supposedly-dead-people twist was a surprise for me, too! I hadn't planned it- it just happened.

I can't believe there are only 2 chapters left! Ah!

Oh and some of you guys wanted it to keep going (the story), but I'm not sure I can! I feel like ending it in two more chapters would be the best choice for the story. But you'll see why ;)

Bye for now!

~M

P.S.: My website is almost ready, I'm almost done with college, Ezra Fitz came back and JoMo will be on TV soon! I am so excited :D